The present invention relates to casement windows, and more particularly to the provision in a casement window of a removable mullion portion to allow emergency egress through the window upon removal of the mullion portion.
Casement windows have long been a standard type of window unit used in all types of residential construction. However, recent revisions in the Minimum Property Standards promulgated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development relating to acceptable window opening sizes for permitting emergency egress therethrough have rendered most standard or commonly used sizes of casement windows unacceptable for use in rooms used for sleeping. According to these Standards, each sleeping room, unless it has two doors providing separate means of escape, or has a door leading outside of the building directly, must have at least one outside window which can be opened from the inside without the use of tools. Furthermore, such outside windows, must provide certain minimum net clear opening dimensions measured between the sash members of the casement window in their fully opened position and other frame members of the casement window. Since the framework of most commonly used casement windows includes a fixed center mullion with two sash members pivotably mounted in the frame on opposite sides of the mullion, a number of standard sized casement windows do not provide a sufficient net clear opening dimension between the opened sashes and the center mullion to meet the required minimum standards. As a result, it has become necessary for designers and builders of all types of residential structures to utilize awkward sizes of casement windows or different styles of windows than those which have heretofore been commonly used.
In contrast to these conventional casement windows and in response to the above-mentioned requirements of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the present invention provides a casement window having a mullion portion which may be easily separated from the window frame from the inwardly facing side of the casement window thereby providing for removal of the mullion portion as an obstacle to emergency egress through the window. Casement windows of conventional sizes and shapes may therefore be constructed according to the present invention and utilized in residential construction in full compliance with the above-mentioned regulations.